The use of medicinal plants to treat sexually transmitted diseases in Nigeria: Ethnomedicinal survey of Niger Delta Region
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22377/ijgp.v5i3.200Abstract
Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) occur throughout the world. In Nigeria, STDs are one of the leading diseases affecting a vastmajority of people. The prevalence rate of these diseases is high in the Niger Delta of Nigeria, especially in Akwa Ibom and Rivers
States. Majority of the population turn to traditional medical practitioners (TMPs), who are available in every community for the treatment of STDs, due to lack of access to modern health facilities and also due to the social stigma associated with the diseases. An ethnomedicinal survey was conducted on the TMPs of various communities of Akwa Ibom and Rivers States of Nigeria to obtain and document information on the medicinal plants used to treat STDs. Interviews were conducted in the local language about plant parts, ailments treated, method of preparation and dosages. The statistical analyses used were use-value, fidelity level, bar chart, and pie chart. Thirty-six plant species representing 26 families were reported by 105 TMPs as remedies for STDs including gonorrhoea and syphilis. Gonorrhoea was the most important disease treated. The medicinal plants used may serve as a source of new and effective drugs and the TMPs may serve as additional source of health manpower.
Key words: Medicinal plants, Niger Delta, Nigeria, sexually transmitted diseases
Downloads
References
World Health Organization. WHO global burden of disease: 2004
update. 2008 Available from: http://www.who.int/healthinfo/
global_burden_disease/2004_report_update/en/index.html. [Last
accessed on 2004 and last update on 2008].
Mati J. STD/HIV screening, diagnosis and treatment within health
programme in Sub-Saharan Africa. In: Sanghvi H, Lewison D,
Baltimore MD, Piego JM, editors. Issues in management of STDs
in a Family Planning Setting: Workshop proceeding. Baltimore
MD: JHPIEGO; 1995. p. 13-5.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Niger Delta
Human Development Programme. Nigeria: UNDP, Garki, Abuja;
Ogunbanjo BO. Sexually transmitted diseases in Nigeria. A review
of the present situation. West Afr J Med 1989;8:42-9.
Available from: http://www.NigeriaHIVinfo.com. The HIV/AIDS
situation in Nigeria. [Last accessed on 2006].
Catterall, RD. Sexually transmitted diseases in Nigeria. Br J Vener
Dis 1980;56:194-6.
Ebong RD. Sexual promiscuity: Knowledge of danger in higher
institutions of higher learning. J R Soc Health 1994;114:137-9.
Bakare RA. Sexually transmitted infections in Nigeria. Annals
Ibadan Postgrad Med 2005;3:48-51.
Available from: http://www.UNAIDS/WHO. Epidermological fact
sheets on HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections. [Last
accessed on 2004].
Sofowora A. Medicinal plants and traditional medicine in Africa.
Nigeria: Spectrum Books Ltd; 1993.
Petters SW, Iwok ER, Uya OE. Akwa Ibom State: The land of
Promise-A Compendium. Nigeria: Gabumo Press; 1994.
Udo EA. Who are the Ibibio? Nigeria: FEP Publishers; 1984.
Talbot PA. The peoples of Southern Nigeria. Vol. 4. London: Frank
Cass and Co. Ltd; 1969.
Wikipedia. Rivers State. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org.
[Last accessed on 2010].
Available from: http://www.OnlineNigeria.com. Rivers State. [Last
accessed on 2003].
Huntington HP. Using traditional ecological knowledge in science:
Methods and applications. Ecol Appl 2000;10:1270-4.
Martin GJ. Ethnobotany: A methods manual. London: Chapman
and Hall; 1995.
Maundu P. Methodology for collecting and sharing indigenous
knowledge: A case study. Indigenous Knowledge Development
Monitor 1995;3:3-5.
Philips O, Gentry AH, Reynel C, Wilki P, Gavez-Durand CB.
Quantitative ethnobotany and Amazonian conservation. Conserv
Biol 1994;8:225-48.
Alexiades MN. Advances in Economic Botany. Vol. 10. Selected
guideline for ethnobotanical research: A field manual. Bronx: The
New York Botanical Garden; 1996.
Nigerian Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA).
Vol. 1. Medicinal Plants of Nigeria: South-West, Nigeria. Nigeria,
Lagos: NNMDA; 2006.
Federal Ministry of Health. Nigerian Herbal Pharmacopoeia. 1st ed.
Nigeria: Federal Ministry of Health; 2008.
Ajibesin KK, Ekpo BA, Bala DN, Essien EE, Adesanya
SA. Ethnobotanical survey of Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria.
J Ethnopharmacol 2008;115:387-408.
Teklehaymanot T, Giday M. Ethnobotanical study of medicinal
plants used by people in Zegie Peninsula Northwestern Ethiopia.
J Ethnobiol Ethnomed 2007;3:12.
Chinsembu KC, Hedimbi M. An ethnobotanical survey of plants
used to manage HIV/AIDS opportunistic infections in Katima
Mulilo, Caprivi region, Namibia. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed 2010;6:25.
Hossan MS, Hanif A, Agarwala B, Sarwar MS, Karim M,
Rahman MT, et al. Traditional use of medicinal plants in Bangladesh
to treat urinary tract infections and sexually transmitted diseases.
Ethnobot Res Appl 2010;8:61.
Sankaranarayanan S, Bama P, Ramachandran J, Kalaichelvan PT,
Deccaraman M, Vijayalakshimi M, et al. Ethnobotanical study of
medicinal plants used by traditional users in Villupuram district
of Tamil Nadu, India. J Med Plant Res 2010,4:1089-11.
Desmarchelier C, Witting-Schaus F. Sixty medicinal plants from
the Peruvian Amazon: Ecology, Ethnomedicine and Bioactivity.
UK, Devon: NHBS; 2000.
Tene V, Malagón O, Finzi PV, Vidari G, Armijos C, Zaragoza T.
An ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants used in Loja and
Zamora-Chinchipe, Ecuador. J Ethnopharmacol 2007;111:63-81.
Busman RW, Sharon D. Traditional medicinal plant use in Northern
Peru: Tracking two thousand years of healing culture. J Ethnobiol
Ethnomed 2006;2:47.
Luziatelli G, Sørensen M, Theilade I, Mølgaard P. Ashaninka
medicinal plants: A case study from the native community of Bajo
Quimiriki, Junin, Peru. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed 2010;6:21.
Sanz-Biset J, Campos-de-la-Cruz J, Epiquién-Rivera MA,
Cañigueral S. A first survey on the medicinal plants of the Chazuta
valley (Peruvian Amazon). J Ethnopharmacol 2009;122:333-62.
African Plants Database. Available from: http://www.ville-ge.ch/
musinfo/bd/cjb/africa/. [Last accessed on 2011 June 8].
International Plant Names Index. Available from: http//www.ipni.
org/index.html. [Last accessed on 2011 June 8].
Taylor L. The healing power of rainforest herb (Serial online).
Available from URL: Available from: http://raintree.com/
picaopreto.htm. [Last assessed on 2005].
Rahmatullah M, Rahman ME, Hasan E, Ahmed R, Jamal F, Jahan R,
et al. A survey of medicinal plants used by the folk medicinal
practitioners of Shetabganj village in Dinajpur district, Bangladesh.
Am-Eurasian J Sustainable Agric 2010;4:196-3.
Sogbetan AO, Alausa KO, Osoba AO. Sexually transmitted diseases
in Ibadan, Nigeria. Br J Vener Dis 1977;53:155-60.
Mazumder UK, Gupta M, Manikandan L, Bhatacharya S.
Antibacterial activity of Urena lobata root. Fitoterapia 2001;72:
-9.
Cos P, Vlietnick AJ, Berghe DV, Maes L. Anti-infective potential
of natural products: How to develop a stronger in vitro ‘proof-ofconcept’.
J Ethnopharmacol 2006;106:290-302.
Aquil F, Ahmad I. Antibacterial properties of traditionally used
Indian medicinal plants. Methods Find Exp Clin Pharmacol
;29:79-92.
Gosh A, Das BK, Roy A, Mandal B, Chandra G. Antibacterial
activity of some medicinal plant extracts. J Nat Med 2008;62:259-62.
Irvine FR. Woody plants of Ghana. London: Oxford University
Press; 1961.
Wikipedia. Spondias mombin. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.
org [Last accessed on 2011].
Cáceres A, Menéndez H, Méndez E, Cohobón E, Samayoa BE,
Jauregui E, et al. Antigonorrhoeal activity of plants used in
Guatemala for the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases.
J Ethnopharmacol 1995;48:85-8.
Ajao AO, Shonukan. Antibacterial effect of aqueous and alcohol
extracts of Spondias mombin and Alchomea cordifolia: 2 local
antimicrobial remedies. Int J Crude Drug Res 1985;23:67-72.
Corthout J, Pieters L, Claeys M, Geerts S, Vanden BD, Vlietinck A.
Antibacterial and molluscicidal phenolic acid from Spondias mombin.
Planta Med 1994;60:460-3.
Abo KA, Ogunleye VO, Ashidi JS. Antimicrobial potential of
Spondias mombin, Croton zambesicus and Zygotritonia crocea.
Phytother Res 1999;13:494-7.
Odugbemi T. Outlines and Pictures of medicinal plants from
Nigeria. Nigeria: University of Lagos Press; 2008.
Bouquet A, Debray M. Medicinal plants of Ivory Coast. France:
Works and Documents of the Office of Scientific and technical
Research Overseas, Paris; 1974.
Walker AR, Silans R. The useful plants of Gabon. France: Paul
Lechevalier, Paris; 1961.
Burkill HM. The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa. 2nd ed. Vol. 1.
Family A-D. UK: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond; 1985.
Anani K, Hudson JB, de Souza C, Akpagana K, Tower GH,
Arnason JT, et al. Investigation of medicinal plants of togo for
antiviral and antibacterial activities. Pharm Biol 2000;38:40-5.
Anaga AO, Eke IG, Chah KF. Some pharmacological properties of
methanolic extract of Palisota hirsuta. J Trop Veterin 2009;27:37-47.
Wauthoz N, Balde A, Balde ES, Van Damme M, Duez P.
Ethnopharmacology of Mangifera indica L. Bark and Pharmacological
Studies of its Main C-Glucosylxanthone, Mangiferin. Int J Biomed
Pharm Sci 1997;1:112-9.
Panda H. Herbs, cultivation and medicinal uses. India: National
Institute of Industrial Research, New Delhi; 2000.
Ross IA. Medicinal Plants of the world, Chemical constituents,
Traditional and Modern Medicinal Uses. Totowa: Humana Press;
Nigam SK, Mitra CR. Constituents of mango (Mangifera indica)
roots. Indian J Chem1964;2:378-9.
Desai PD, Ganguly AK, Govindachari TR, Joshi BS, Kamat VN,
Manmade AH, et al. Chemical investigation of some Indian plants:
Part II. Indian J Chem 1966;4:457-9.
El Ansari MA, Rajadurai S, Nayudamma Y. Studies on the
polyphenols of Mangifera indica bark. Leather Sci 1967;14:247-1.
Stoilova I, Gargova S, Stoyanova A, Ho L. Antimicrobial and
antioxidant activity of the polyphenol mangiferin. Herb Pol
;51:37-44.
Zhu XM, Song JX, Huang ZZ, Wu YM, Yu MJ. Antiviral activity of
mangiferin against herpes simplex virus type 2 in vitro. Zhongguo
Yao Li Xue Bao 1993;14:452-4.
Guha S, Ghosal S, Chattopadhyay U. Antitumor, immunomodulatory
and anti-HIV effect of mangiferin, a naturally occurring
glucosylxanthone. Chemotherapy 1996;42:443-51.
Kayode J, Jose RA, Ige OE. Conservation and Biodiversity Erosion
in Ondo State, Nigeria: (4), Assessing Botanicals Used in the Cure
of Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Owo Region. Ethnobot Leaflet
;13:734-8.
Boulos L. Medicinal plants of North Africa. Michigan: Reference
Publishers Incorporated, Algonac; 1983.
Noumi E, Eloumou ME. Syphilis ailment: Prevalence and herbal
remedies in Ebolowa subdivision (South region, Cameroon). Int
J Pharm Biomed Sci 2011;2:20-8.
Adjanohoun EV, Adjakidje MR, Ahyi K, Akpagana P, Chibon A,
El-hadji J, et al. Contribution to ethnobotanical and floristic studies
in Togo. France: Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation
(ACCT), Paris; 1986.
Ogunshe AA, Lawal OA, Iheakanwa CI. Effects of simulated
preparations of plants used in Nigerian traditional medicine on
Candida species associated with vaginal candidiasis. Ethnobot Res
Appl 2008;6:373-3.
Ngemenya MN, Mbah JA, Tane P, Titanji VP. Antibacterial effects of
some Cameroonian medicinal plants against common pathogenic
bacteria. Afr J Trad CAM 2006;3:84-93.
Perumal Samy R, Ignacimuthu S, Raja DP. Preliminary screening
of ethnomedicinal plants from India. J Ethnopharmacol
;66:235-40.
Mann A, Gbate M, Umar AN. Medicinal and economic plants of
Nupeland. Nigeria: Jude Evans Books and Publications; 2003.
Lewis WH, Elvin-Lewis MPH. Medical Botany: Plants affecting
human health. New York: John Wiley and Sons; 2003.
UK CROPNET. Available from: http://ukcrop.net/perl/ace/grep/
EthnobotDB. [Last accessed on 2003].
Bouquet A. Witch doctors and traditional medicine of Congo
(Brazzaville). France: O.R.S.T.O.M. Mémoire, Paris; 1969.
Ainslie JR. A list of plants used in medicine in Nigeria. UK: Imperial
Forestry Institute, Oxford University; 1937.
Kerharo J, Bouquet A. Medicinal and poisonous plants of the Ivory
Coast – Upper Volta. France: Vigot Fréres, Paris; 1950.
Irvine FR. Woody plants of Ghana. London: Oxford University
Press; 1930.
Bandeira SO Albano G, Barbosa FM. Diversity and uses of
plant species in Goba, Lebambo mountains, Mozambique, with
emphasis on trees and shrubs. In: J. Timberlake, S. Kativu, editors.
African Plants: Biodiversity, Taxonomy and uses. London, Royal
Botanic Gardens: Kew, Richmond; 1999.
Milliken W, Miller RP, Pollard SR, Wandelli EV. The ethnobotany of
the Waimiri Atoari Indians of Brazil. UK: Royal Botanical Gardens,
Kew, Richmond: 1992.
Chifundera, K. Contribution to the inventory of medicinal plants
from the Bushi area, South Kivu Province, Democratic Republic
of Congo. Fitoterapia 2001;72:351-68.
Haerdi F, Kerharo FJ, Adam JG. African medicinal plants.Plantes
médicinales africaines. Germany: Publisher of Law and Society,
Basel; 1964.
Betti JL. An ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants among the
Baka Pygmies in the Dja Biosphere Reserve, Cameroon. Afr Study
Monogr 2004;25:1-27.
Oliver B. Medicinal plants in Nigeria. Nigeria, Lagos: Nigerian
College of Arts, Science and Technology; 1960.
Ekpendu TO, Anyogo P, Ityough D, Akpa F. Nigerian ethnomedicine
and medicinal plant flora: the Benue experience, Part 3. Nig J Nat
Prod Med 2000;4:13-22.
Kerharo, J, Adam JG. Senegalese traditional pharmacopoeia.
Medicnal and poisonous plants. France: Vigot Fréres, Paris; 1974.
Kerharo J, Adam JG. In: Haerdi F, Kerharo FJ, Adam JG, editors.
Medicinal and poisonous and magical plants of Niominka and
Saloum Islands (Senegal). Germany: Publisher of Law and Society,
Basel; African Medicinal Plants 1964b.
Association for Scientific Identification, Conservation
and Utilization of Medicinal plants of Nigeria, their Uses
(ASICUMPON). Checklist of Medicinal Plants of Nigeria and Their
Uses. Enugu, Nigeria: Jamoe and Trinity-Biz Publishers; 2005.
Adegoke EA, Akinsanya A, Naqvi SH. Studies of Nigerian
medicinal plants 1: A preliminary survey of plant alkaloids. J West
Afr Sci Assoc 1968;13:13-33.
Ayensu ES. Medicinal plants of West Africa. Algonac: Michigan,
Reference Publications; 1978.
Adjanohoun E, Ake Assi L. Pharmaceutical plants of Ivory Coast. Ivory
Coast, Abidjan: National Florist Centre, University of Abidjan; 1972.
Taylor L. Technical Data Report for Ubos (Spondias mombin). NV,
Carson City; Raintree Nutrition Inc.; 2006.
